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Monday was consumed with news of an over-turned gas truck on Highway 49 North of Magee forcing the closing of north and south bound traffic until 9 PM.
The Texas TransEastern truck was traveling north on highway 49 near New Galilee Road. A funeral procession was entering highway 49. When the driver spotted the procession, the driver had two choices…hit the cars or hit the ditch. He chose the ditch (highway medium). A person who was in a car behind the truck got to the driver first. The driver said, “was anyone hurt…did I hit those people?” That truck driver saved a lot of lives when he made the decision to put others first. The driver was taken to UMMC with broken limps and abrasions. His seat belt was still hooked. He wiggled out of that truck.
The force of the truck roll-over caused the access hole on top of the container to pop open. Gas was escaping in an arch following onto the south bound lane of Highway 49. This particular tanker truck had 4 compartments. Only one of the compartments was leaking. Quick action by the Magee Fire Department sealed the leak. Approximately, one hundred gallons of unleaded gas had already spilled on to the road. The truck was carrying 8,500 gallons of unleaded gas.
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Walker Brothers Towing removed the truck and trailer. That section of the highway was closed for approximately 9 hours!
The Magee Police Department did an awesome job managing the traffic. Traffic was rerouted on 149 (old highway). I’m just saying, at least we had a way to reroute the traffic! These first responders spent the day dealing with a very dangerous situation.
When I learned of the accident, I began preparing to head up the highway, but soon realized the “scene” was not some where I needed to go! My daddy was one of the original founding members of the Magee Fire Department and Fire Chief for years. I grew up with “fire fighting.”…and learned early on NOT to follow the fire truck! Now, I don’t always do what my daddy said…then or now…but, Monday, I knew better than to get mixed up in a leaking gasoline tanker truck.
I prayed for the safety of everyone. We have a dedicated police department, fire department, sheriff department…just a bunch of people who really care about others. Thank you for caring.
